The recent Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of Education International addressed the lofty goal of charting the response of education unions to the United Nations' plan to transform our world through sustainable development.

The 2017 Federal Budget continued a longstanding tradition of many politicians putting themselves before their constituents. In the case of school funding, this meant putting their interests before the educational outcomes of students.

Living and working thousands of kilometres from what was formerly “home”, with whole families relocating, has always presented personal and professional challenges. In the current era it is increasingly presenting a financial challenge as well.

Much of the latest commentary about school funding is designed to do one thing, distract us from the clear and unambiguous goal of a needs-based, sector-blind funding model for all schools in Australia.

As the dust settles from the outcome of the US presidential election, the geopolitics of 2017 looms as a great challenge for the advancement of the QTU’s professional and industrial agenda on behalf of members.

In the wake of the improved enterprise bargaining offer and ballots, we should not lose sight of the array of positive initiatives for schools, teachers and principals delivered by the Palaszczuk government in its first 18 months in office.

The imperative to maximise the benefits of education over a lifetime by ensuring quality early childhood education has again come into sharp focus with the advent of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The only certainties in life are death and taxes. While that is hard to argue with, there is, however, another certainty in life: that, come the end of January each year, students will pour through the gates of Queensland state schools.

Journal columns:

A recent opinion piece by Jennifer Buckingham of the Centre for Independent Studies (published widely but freely available here1) promotes charter schools, yet another failed American experiment, as an answer for imaginary issues in Australian education.

My recent experience at the 7th Education International World Congress in Ottawa, Canada, caused me to reflect on some things that we take for granted: not least of which is the meaning of the word union.

The leaking of options for the control and funding of education from the Reform of the Federation Green Paper discussion paper reveals the true devilishness of the Abbott government’s education policies..

You would be forgiven for thinking that this column was about overcrowded classrooms or the jam-packed curriculum. Both issues are important, current and sadly true. However, this discussion is about how schools are being swamped by “good” ideas and what we need to do as educators to clear the decks so that we let teachers teach.

QTU stands in solidarity

The Queensland Teachers’ Union wishes to express its shock at the killing of 17 people at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and stands in solidarity with the many brave teachers who risked their own lives to protect the students in their care.

These horrific events reveal the deep commitment and bravery of members of our profession under the most extreme of circumstances, and we are proud to stand with them at this terrible time.QTU, 16 Feb 2018